The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell: A Novel - Hardcover

Despres, Loraine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060515244 ISBN 13: 9780060515249

Publisher: William Morrow, 2005

Synopsis

Belle Cantrell felt guilty about killing her husband and she hated that. Feeling guilty, that is. A lady shouldn't do something she's going to feel guilty about later, was a rule Belle kept firmly in mind.

So begins The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell, a story of murder, adultery, and regular church attendance, which introduces Belle Cantrell as a beautiful young widow with a rebellious streak, years before she will become grandmother to Sissy LeBlanc, the feisty main character of Loraine Despres's bestselling The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc.

The year is 1920, prohibition is in full swing, women are clamoring for the vote, and a narrow-minded intolerance is on the rise. Life isn't easy for an unmarried woman, not in a little town like Gentry, Louisiana, especially after she's sent to jail for swimming in an indecent bathing costume with a group of suffragists.

It's not as if Belle doesn't know how to behave. She knows the rules. She keeps the Primer of Propriety firmly in mind. But sometimes -- most of the time -- she has to twist the rules a little, or break them, or give them a permanent kink, because they all say the same thing: "Don't."

And a girl has got to live.

After a year and a half of mourning, Belle decides to get on with her life and kicks off a season of tumult that will change her and Gentry forever.

Sexy, sassy, with laugh-out-loud humor and a cast of zany characters you won't forget, The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell is a big comic love story and a page-turner. But it delves deeper, as Belle struggles to find her moral center and stand up to forces that are determined to destroy the soul of a town and the people she loves.

About this title

About the Author:

Loraine Despres is the author of the bestselling novel The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc and its tie-in title, The Southern Belle's Handbook. Raised in Amite, Louisiana, Despres is a former television writer and international screenwriting consultant. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and continues to enjoy bad behavior.

From AudioFile:

From the opening, in which Belle says she hates feeling guilty about having killed her husband, to the madcap close, this story of murder, adultery, earthy sex, and regular church attendance is anything but predictable. Thomas's portrayal of the 1920s' telephone party line, with multiple neighbors who listen in only to abruptly break into the conversation, is hilarious and well done. Most important, Thomas's portrayal of bawdy Belle Cantrell, sassy and full of charm, makes her lifelike and endearing. She sounds something like a funny Julia Roberts. This sexy, sassy, sometimes laugh-out-loud audio is filled with a cast of zany characters you won't soon forget. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0060515244
• ISBN 13: 9780060515249
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352